How Artificial Intelligence Fuels Global Organized Crime and Cybercrime

Artificial intelligence and open-source digital tools are enabling criminal networks to execute complex operations and large-scale online scams worldwide, according to a United Nations study.

The report, titled “Crime and Justice in a Changing World” and published by the United Nations Interregional Institute for Research on Crime and Justice (Unicri), indicates that accessible technology allows criminal groups to bypass the need for internal technical development. The expansion of open-source artificial intelligence, custom programming services, and the ease of creating online platforms expand the capabilities of criminal networks, according to the report. These factors are compounded by encrypted communications, digital assets, and “cybercrime-as-a-service” models, which allow groups to hire or acquire tools to commit crimes without developing all the technical infrastructure internally.

Online Scams Cause One Trillion Dollars in Global Losses

Financial losses linked strictly to online scams reached up to one trillion dollars globally in 2024. A multi-country survey spanning 42 nations revealed that 57 percent of adults had experienced a scam over the preceding twelve months, with 23 percent suffering direct monetary losses.

Cartel Diversification and Supply Chain Exploitation in Latin America

The analysis mentions groups such as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel in Mexico, alongside the Comando Vermelho and the Primeiro Comando da Capital in Brazil. These groups exploit regulatory gaps across international jurisdictions to launder profits and establish new trafficking routes through alliances with corrupt officials and local intermediaries.

The economic impact on Latin America remains severe. Criminal activity cost the region approximately 192 billion dollars in 2022, a figure equivalent to 3.44 percent of regional gross domestic product. This financial drain dwarfs standard regional expenditures, representing 78 percent of total education spending and double the investment allocated to social assistance programs.

Criminal Syndicates Recruit Children in Colombia and Haiti

Vulnerable youth face heightened exposure to violence and recruitment as criminal syndicates expand their territorial control. The United Nations verified the recruitment of 371 children in Colombia during 2025, primarily driven by dissidents of the former FARC and the National Liberation Army (ELN). In Haiti, armed gangs recruited nearly 900 children over the same twelve-month period. Rapid criminal expansion also correlates with sharp surges in local violence, exemplified by a 640 percent increase in homicide rates among children and adolescents in Ecuador between 2019 and 2023.

Conversely, global homicide rates present a contrasting trajectory. The worldwide rate declined from 5.9 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 5.2 in 2023. However, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America together continue to account for approximately two-thirds of all global homicide victims.

Regulatory frameworks and law enforcement agencies struggle to match the adaptability of transnational criminal networks. Regional inequality, unemployment, and social marginalization persist as primary drivers enabling gangs to recruit young individuals. As criminal organizations continue to embed themselves within legal commercial ecosystems and use open-source artificial intelligence, international regulators have yet to establish effective mechanisms to curb the resulting trillion-dollar underground economy.